Sunday, February 20, 2011

Ella always wants to push the little cart at the grocery store but usually we have way too big of a trip to make so it seems like it'd be a disaster. One night we had a really quick trip and were just picking up a few things so I let her push it. I definitely was glad for the tall bar, because she needed a little steering help, but she did great and really enjoyed being in charge of the cart, and it was actually a little break for me!

In her Minnie Mouse costume. We had to call her "Minnie" for an entire evening!

Sleeping with her treasures - Glow Man from Grampy G and her shakey toy from the circus from Grammy

Making pizza

Kiss for Daddy

Climbing at Cooper's birthday party

Riding a scooter with some help from Daddy

Beautiful girl

Wearing the hairnet and mask she got from her vet tour with Grampy G - she told me she had to make notes about Cory and then said she needed to go find a shot...I told her let's sticking to making notes and spare Cory the shot (eek!)

Valentine's gel clings from Granddad and Grandma

Drinking out of her heart straw at her Valentine's Day party

Ella and Tess going through all of the Valentines in their shoeboxes at their Valentine's Day party

We knew we were going to have beautiful weather this weekend, so we planned a picnic lunch at Ella's playhouse. She was so excited about it and picked out the menu herself - pita chips and hummus, fruit, and cheese sticks!

With good ol' blankie

Cory and Nomar sleeping together

I was getting gas and she wanted to see how everything worked so I gave her a little gas-pumping lesson. Here she is with a big smile after some life-skills training :)!

In the tunnel at Chick-Fil-A ("Chick-a-lay") at a birthday party

We discovered we have a bird's nest in 2 different trees around the side of our house. We got a new bird feeder in the hopes they'll stick around and lay some eggs and hatch some baby birds. Ella says "those birds are really hungry" and always wants to check on the birds whenever we pull into the driveway.

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Ella and I went shopping this morning and got her a bunch of new spring clothes and some new pairs of shoes. She had SUCH an opinion about everything, it was really different from our last big trip where I really picked out everything and she was fine with all of it. She loves pink and pretty much wants to wear pink every single day, so we ended up with tons of pink and I snuck in a few other colors when I could.

Ella has told me that she really wants "stomping shoes", as she calls them, she told me they are shoes that light up when you stomp the ground. Her friend from school has them and she has mentioned them to me several times, but I really didn't know what she was talking about (I was picturing LA Lights). So we got to the shoe section and there was a single pair of the most over-decorated shoes I have ever seen, and Ella was immediately drawn to them and yelled "stomping shoes!" These shoes were NOT attractive - they have a jean base and tons of decorations on them, sequins, all kinds of stuff. She loved them though.

Unfortunately there was just one pair, a size 5 (Ella is now up to a size 8). I told her they were not in her size, which went over very poorly, but I said she could try them on and decide what she thought. She squished her feet in there, told me how beautiful they were, and that they felt okay (ha!). Luckily, when I went through the next aisle, I saw there were a few different pairs in that same style, and they had all the different sizes. She said "oh good, these are tiny" about the other ones, and happily put on the size 8s. Then we even found the light-up ones, which were really what she had been looking for. They look exactly like the other ones, except some of the sequins on the toes light up, they're called "Twinkle Toes." She was completely thrilled with them, carried them through the store, and put them on in the car once we got out to the parking lot.

What made all of this so notable to me is that this is the first purchase where I completely, 100% do not like these shoes at all, but because they are what she wanted, I got them for her. She thinks they're just so great, and even though I struggle to find anything remotely appealing about these sneakers, I really get a kick out of the fact that she has such a strong opinion about them and I do like them because she likes them so much (and of course she thinks that Steve and I think they're just as beautiful as she thinks they are).

To give you an idea of how much she loves her new Twinkle Toes, I will just tell you that when I tucked her in for her nap, her shoes were NOT on her feet...

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

While Steve and I were on vacation in Cancun, Ella was on a vacation of her own in Charlotte with Mom and Glenn (and across the street from Erin, Josh, and Cameron). She was so excited leading up to the trip, and asked every day when it would be the day that she was leaving for her trip. She even told me that "you and Daddy cannot stay at Grammy's apartment, only me."

We got there late Tuesday night and left Wednesday morning for our trip. We said good-bye to Ella and knew she'd have a great time with everyone while we were gone. They had such a good time together, here are some pictures of their adventures -

Doing dishes, Mom put her to work right away :)

Reading with Grampy G

Fast asleep after a big day of fun

Feeding the ducks

Pretending to drive the car

Having fun with Uncle Josh

Cameron sleeping on Grammy

Mom and Glenn took Ella to the circus one day for her first trip to the circus! They said Ella paid attention the whole time and really enjoyed it. I've asked her many questions since then about it and she is always excited to talk about it, and told me next time I can come to the circus too :).

Eating cotton candy

With Grampy G - after the circus they went and had a picnic lunch

Adorable Cameron

One day Glenn took Ella to PetSmart to look at the animals there and they ended up getting a VIP tour of the vet clinic at PetSmart and got all kinds of goodies.

Whenever we would call and check in, it just made me so happy to know how well everything was going and how much fun Ella was having. With the exception of one day when she didn't want to talk on the phone, she'd always get on the phone too and fill me in on what she was up to. It was so great to hear her sweet voice and really made it easier to enjoy being away knowing what a good time everyone was having.

A very, very big thank you to Mom and Glenn for taking such good care of our little girl while we were away and making being away that much easier! And to Erin, Josh and Cameron for being an excellent Aunt, Uncle and Cousin that Ella can't get enough of!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Steve and I went on vacation last week, to Cancun, Mexico! It was incredible - we had no responsibility, no where we had to be, and nothing to do but relax and enjoy ourselves.

We stayed at a resort on the beach and didn't leave once - it was all-inclusive and we ate at different restaurants every night, and spent the days relaxing by the pool or on the beach. We read, talked, laughed, and just enjoyed having such a nice break. We went with our friends and met them there, and it was the perfect mix of time with them and time with just the two of us.

The room type that we had paid for was overbooked so when we got there, we got a free room upgrade to a nicer room that had a separate patio with a screened in porch and a hot-tub right on the porch. We could see the ocean from our room, and could walk everywhere in just a few minutes. There were 3 different pools and a bunch of different bars, even a swim-up bar and a separate bar on the beach. We had a few cloudy days and then a few really sunny days, it was such nice weather, a very welcome change from the really cold weather this winter. Steve's birthday was Sunday and so we celebrated on Saturday, our last night there.

The 2 of us

With our friends Dan and Annie

Pictures from the beach

Ella stayed in Charlotte for her own vacation (much more to come on that!), and we talked to her every day, and Mom texted to give me updates. It made it so much easier to have a good time, knowing how much fun they were all having together. The last time Steve and I went on a real vacation was 4 years ago, to St. Martin, and I remember thinking the trip went by too fast and I wished we were staying longer. As much as we had this time, we were ready to come home because we get to come back to Ella, getting to see her after 4 days of vacation felt like she was the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, we were so excited to see her.

It was really a wonderful vacation and I hope it's not another 4 years before we do it again!!